Horrible flyaway today..wonder if anyone can shed light

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So,
I was helping someone fly their dii vision 2. It wasn't the gimbal model. I told the operator to make sure his transmitter was fully charged, which unfortunately never got charged to fully green. So, Im always flying phantom mode. I don't bother with naza, just keeping it simple. We got it up in the air, extremely windy day. Had 10 satellites, I calibrated it to its spot and waited for the green lights. We had it up, brought it down. He brought it up and back down again and then wanted to fly one more time. He took it up to about 150 feet, when all of a sudden I saw two red and two yellow lights on bottom. The unit started drifting away from us. I took over control and tried to get it back. It came slightly back, but i couldn't get it to come down when all of a sudden it took off away from us. When i looked at the phone and android it said going home. This thing flew across the river from queens to manhattan and we never saw it again. I just feel bad cause this was the maiden voyage it had never been flown before. What could have happened. These flyways scare me. Im just glad it wasn't mine, but felt extremely sad that the unit had malfunctioned and owner was out over 1000 bucks.
 
****, sad story.

First of all, naza mode is always scaring me, having to depend on satellites is not a good thing. I dont know what happened, some this this thing gets crazy, im starting to learn that you should not risk it at all, if its windy, DONT, if it is to wet DONT!
If the compass is asking to be calibrated over and over again, dont use it!
 
Compass calibration problem or GPS loss? Did you try switching to ATTI once you saw the control issues?
 
It should have said, "Coming Home..." If it said, "Going Home..." then you're in trouble! :shock:

Sorry about your friend's loss. I'm guessing either the GPS had not secured a Home Lock on the second flight, the compass needed calibration, or she lost GPS signal in the air, in which case she would have reverted to ATTI mode and it would have been up to you to bring her back home. Not sure why it would have suddenly turned and left, unless she got caught up in the breeze? It was the maiden flight. Did you go through all the steps to calibrate the controller, the Vision, etc..???
 
Yellow light means compass issue or you fell out of GPS mode

Wind will take it at that point. Switch to ATTI and fly manually

Maiden voyage? Did you calibrate the compass and away from any metal or concrete?
 
I tried to get control and had it for a little bit but then as Dirty Bird has said, it did say Going Home. Your right. How do you switch it to ATTI mode, is that with the S1 Switch in middle? and then does it let you take over? I am so use to just flying mine with no problems I better learn all the nuances of this thing or i'll lose mine also.
 
Your transmitter beep or change led color? I think there wasn't enough battery in the transmitter and decided to head back to last known home position.

Did you use cheap batteries that dint contact properly or hold charge?
 
abacus01 said:
I tried to get control and had it for a little bit but then as Dirty Bird has said, it did say Going Home. Your right. How do you switch it to ATTI mode, is that with the S1 Switch in middle? and then does it let you take over? I am so use to just flying mine with no problems I better learn all the nuances of this thing or i'll lose mine also.

Hi sorry to hear of your experience. It is my understanding, to use ATTI mode you need to be flying the Phantom in NAZA mode, more information on this blog http://www.dave59.com around the NAZA mode. Regards Dave
 
naturarquista said:
****, sad story.

First of all, naza mode is always scaring me, having to depend on satellites is not a good thing.

Hmm...I'm a newbie who just switched to Naza mode after reading what all the more experienced pilots are saying that you SHOULD switch to Naza mode to NOT be dependant on satellites so what you say here makes me a bit confused?

My understanding is that one of the main advantages being in Naza mode is that you can flip S1 to the middle position to enter ATTI mode where you will not rely on satellites should your Phantom start behaving strange or you're losing control over it and you think it might be a GPS issue.

Then if that doesn't help you can flip S1 all the way down to the bottom position as a last resort to force it into fail safe mode.
 
This is another case that was solely caused because the operator didn't know enough to react in an appropriate manner. if you don't know what ATTI mode is or how to fly properly in it, you shouldn't be flying a phantom. Period. Always fly in Naza mode. Phantom mode isn't keeping it simple, it's setting yourself up for failure.


Ps- An "extremely windy day" is not a good scenario for a maiden voyage.
 
I also say that there is a good chance there was a compass or GPS issue. When you lose the GPS/compass and you are not certain how your aircraft is oriented and you're in the wind, it can be very difficult to guess how to control your aircraft to bring it back to you. If you do nothing, it will drift with the wind. If you try to work the RC and you are not oriented, you may exacerbate the problem. Obviously windspeeds up above the ground can be higher and if they are 25-30MPH, I can imagine how the aircraft may quickly be lost from sight while one struggles to figure out how to compensate for the wind.
 
Skyjunkie said:
I also say that there is a good chance there was a compass or GPS issue. When you lose the GPS/compass and you are not certain how your aircraft is oriented and you're in the wind, it can be very difficult to guess how to control your aircraft to bring it back to you. If you do nothing, it will drift with the wind. If you try to work the RC and you are not oriented, you may exacerbate the problem. Obviously windspeeds up above the ground can be higher and if they are 25-30MPH, I can imagine how the aircraft may quickly be lost from sight while one struggles to figure out how to compensate for the wind.


+1
 
Camicus said:
This is another case that was solely caused because the operator didn't know enough to react in an appropriate manner. if you don't know what ATTI mode is or how to fly properly in it, you shouldn't be flying a phantom. Period. Always fly in Naza mode. Phantom mode isn't keeping it simple, it's setting yourself up for failure.


Ps- An "extremely windy day" is not a good scenario for a maiden voyage.
Plus 1 , why would you fly faraway and on a extremely windy day on a maiden flight ? Sorry to be so blunt , but you got what you deserved. My first flights with all my quads was in close without trees or anything else.
With my first phantom I flew close and low until I figured it out.
I get tired of everything being blamed on the phantom , you have to use your head , plenty of post on what to do when your starting out.
 
The term fly-away is dead to me.

R/C has it's vulnerabilities on top of possible component, equipment, and workmanship failures.

One of them is the operator, this is most often the cause of 'control loss' on one way or another.
 
I had an experience last week that appears to be similar.

I powered up my P2V+, calibrated the compass, and waited for GPS to acquire 6 satellites. I took off, and flew out over a lake. How far away did I fly? I don't know, because the app said "Distance: N/A". It had the height, but not the distance.

After a few seconds, the "N/A" went away, to be replaced by "0 feet". The drone was 1,000 feet away from me, but thought it was home. I realized how stupid I was to take off before fully verifying all GPS, and flew it back before I could lose it. I then added another item to my mental take-off checklist: make sure that the distance and height values on the app are correct.

You said that you had 10 satellites before you took off. Do you remember looking at the distance during the flight, before it flew off?
 
InterMurph said:
I had an experience last week that appears to be similar.

I powered up my P2V+, calibrated the compass, and waited for GPS to acquire 6 satellites. I took off, and flew out over a lake. How far away did I fly? I don't know, because the app said "Distance: N/A". It had the height, but not the distance.

After a few seconds, the "N/A" went away, to be replaced by "0 feet". The drone was 1,000 feet away from me, but thought it was home. I realized how stupid I was to take off before fully verifying all GPS, and flew it back before I could lose it. I then added another item to my mental take-off checklist: make sure that the distance and height values on the app are correct.

You said that you had 10 satellites before you took off. Do you remember looking at the distance during the flight, before it flew off?

I would never fly in GPS mode with only 6 sats considering that's the bare minimum.
 
N017RW said:
The term fly-away is dead to me.

R/C has it's vulnerabilities on top of possible component, equipment, and workmanship failures.

One of them is the operator, this is most often the cause of 'control loss' on one way or another.
+1
 
WebMaximus said:
Hmm...I'm a newbie who just switched to Naza mode after reading what all the more experienced pilots are saying that you SHOULD switch to Naza mode to NOT be dependant on satellites so what you say here makes me a bit confused?

My understanding is that one of the main advantages being in Naza mode is that you can flip S1 to the middle position to enter ATTI mode where you will not rely on satellites should your Phantom start behaving strange or you're losing control over it and you think it might be a GPS issue.
Then if that doesn't help you can flip S1 all the way down to the bottom position as a last resort to force it into fail safe mode.
That is correct. There are two general system modes. "Phantom" and "Naza." You have to use the Phantom Assistant software to change the general system mode.

Phantom mode always keeps you in GPS flight whenever possible. If you drop below 6 satellites it changes to ATTI control. But if the system is in Phantom mode, that is not under pilot control. If you are in Naza Mode, that brings in manual control of switching to ATTI and RTH whenever you want. If both switches are UP, Phantom and Naza modes are the same.
 
Ok, thanks for confirming this and then I don't find any reason to be scared using Naza mode but instead it might be what helps you out should you end up in a bad situation.
 

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